NFL Broadcast Bootcamp Reminds Talent that What They Say Doesn't Matter
By Kyle Koster
Braylon Edwards shared a behind-the-scenes look at the NFL Player Engagement broadcast bootcamp. One of the slides used in a presentation proves what we’ve all known for a long time: networks believe viewers are really, really stupid.
The 55-37-8 ratio appears to be based on UCLA psychologist Albert Mehrabian’s study of the importance of verbal and non-verbal cues when the messaging doesn’t match. It also appears to be a bastardization of Mehrabian’s findings.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever watched a studio show that looking and sounding the part of an expert is more valuable than having actual insight. Telegenic and confident speakers tend to get more air time than slovenly, cigarette-gnawing wonks.
Television mirrors real life in that way. That’s just the way it is.
This image is definitely something to think about the next time an analyst forcefully uses National Football League instead of NFL before launching into a vague point about a guy’s “motor.”
It’s a proven formula that’s not going anywhere — despite your protestations over being infantilized.